Over the counter chemical peel for wrinkles
Over the counter chemical peels provide a cheap and easily available means of revitalizing
and regenerating your skin. It is a milder version of professional chemical peels where the
new skin replacing the old skin is smooth and exuberates a youthful appearance.

Do-it-yourself peels not only treat wrinkles, but also give your skin a vibrant glow. They are
usually similar to professional peels, but in a diluted version. One commonly used acid in
these peels is alpha hydroxyl or AHAs or glycolic acids.

These acids naturally occur like in sugar cane juice, and are a very mild chemical peel. These
acids gently penetrates through the upper skin layers to slough away dead upper skin layers
and make way for younger and rejuvenated skin. Besides glycolic acid, salicylic acid is
commonly used in these peels. They work especially well on sebum, and thus benefit those
suffering from acne problems.

Easy to use at home
These chemical peels take longer to give effects than a professional one; however as they
are rather cheap and as results can be seen within a week’s time, it is a viable alternative.
Moreover, do-it-yourself peels are easy to use and can be applied at home to treat wrinkles
instead of visiting a doctor’s office or spa.

Whichever over-the-counter peel you opt to use, it is important that you read and understand
its usage instructions before using it. Though the acids used in them are diluted, they are still
potent enough to cause damage like chemical burns if improperly used or with overexposure.
So make sure the at-homes peel you use has no more than 10% glycolic acid.

After reading so much about face lifts, I started wondering if men too could undergo a face lift. This is when I stumbled upon this cosmetic surgery for men, a male face lift. This is a surgery that is used to reduce the signs of aging in men.

Middle aged men usually experience loss of skin elasticity in the cheek region, jawline and neck, that leads to wrinkles and sagging skin. If done by an experienced plastic surgeon, a male face lift helps give the man’s face a more youthful and vibrant appearance.

Men age with overexposure to the sun, physical stress, natural aging and poor diet. Basically, a healthy male who has no major health problems is best qualified for a male face lift surgery.

The procedure

A male and female face lift are quite similar. It is only because a man’s hairline differs from a woman’s hairline that concealing its surgery scars can be difficult. During the face lift, excess facial skin that forms fatty tissue is removed making incisions, after which the incisions are sutured or stitched up.

If the patient or surgeon thinks that more than one area is to be targeted, male facial rejuvenation can be difficult. Moreover, like any surgery, a male face lift has its share of complications and risks.

Possible complications

There is a rare chance of post-operative infection if the patient does not follow the doctor’s after care instructions. Sometimes, a blood clot and in rare cases, facial paralysis may occur. As a man’s skin is thicker than a woman’s skin, there is also an increased risk and chance of bleeding after the surgery.

As we all know, a neck lift is great for neck wrinkle reduction. However I have to say that neck lifts are not advised for everyone. As the results of a neck lift greatly depend on the condition of your skin, the benefits of a neck lift are not the same for everyone. So discuss what the neck lift will and will not do to you and your skin with your doctor before using it for wrinkle reduction.

Those taking some medications cannot have a neck lift. If you smoke, you have to quit smoking a fortnight before the procedure, and also avoid smoking for at least a fortnight after the surgery. If this is not possible, it’s better to forget having a neck lift.

Don’t go an any fad diet

It is not advised to go on any fad diet for a few weeks prior to the neck lift surgery as your body needs a balanced diet to prepare you for the neck lift. If you are on any vitamin or mineral supplement, inform and discuss this with your surgeon. There are some nutrients that will thin blood and can cause excessive bleeding after the neck lift.

You will also be advised about the risks associated with the neck lift surgery. Its risks are similar to any surgery like excessive bruising, swelling, some reactions to the anesthetic administered during the neck lift and some infection that may develop during recuperation.

Avoid strenuous physical activity

Before considering a neck lift, know what you can and cannot do during the recovery period. You will have to limit your physical activity for several weeks after a neck lift, especially heavy lifting and contact sports.

Now that I found out what I wanted to know about neck lifts, I decided to pursue the topic of considering a brow lift or a forehead lift for wrinkle reduction. As the name suggests, this is a surgery used for enhancing the appearance of sagging eyebrows, frown lines and deep forehead creases.

Like any surgery, the surgeon will carry out a physical examination of the facial structure of the patient and explain the pros and cons of the procedure before performing it. Brow lifts are generally safe; however just like any surgery, there are rare cases of complications.

The procedure

In a brow lift, the surgeon makes incisions in the hairline area, forehead or on eyelids, as per the patient’s wrinkle removal requirements. Next, the skin and corresponding muscles are lifted to give a more youthful appearance to the patient after which the incisions are closed using sutures or stitches.

Brow lifts are usually carried out on an outpatient setting which may be in a hospital, private clinic or surgical center. Though patients can resume normal activities after the surgery, they should avoid lifting or stooping till the next doctor visit.

The patient will be prescribed some over the counter pain medication like anti-inflammatory analgesics for pain relief. If the pain is intense, the doctor will prescribe some stronger painkillers.

Risks and complications

Complications that may arise from a brow lift include excessive bleeding under the skin called hematoma or some allergic reaction from the anesthesia. Sometimes, there may be injury or damage to facial structures; but this is very
rare and usually temporary. There may be some swelling and bruising at the site, which is temporary and fades off after a few weeks’ time.

After reading all about surgical and non-surgical neck lifts, I have to remind you that a surgical neck lift is just like any other surgery, it has its share of complications. So before you consider having a neck lift, I felt it better to enlighten you about the possible complications that may arise after a neck lift.

The most common complication to expect is infection that can lead to a fever. Besides a fever, if you develop an infection, you may also feel nauseous, unwell and perhaps experience a swollen and tender neck.

Anesthesia complications

Another complication that may arise from neck lift surgery is an adverse reaction to anesthesia. While most people can tolerate anesthesia, some experience nausea or vomiting after anesthesia. Some may also have an allergy to anesthesia that leads to symptoms similar to any allergic reaction like itching, excessive swelling and a skin reaction like hives.

Excessive bleeding is another complication from neck lifts that may arise from loss of blood after the surgery. Sometimes, bleeding can become so severe that you may have to undergo a blood transfusion to compensate the loss of blood.

Possibility of blood clots

Then again, there are some people who develop blood clots after undergoing neck lift surgery. This is a serious complication as the blood clot may dislodge and settle in another part of the body, and lead to further life-threatening complications like strokes that arise from blood clots in the brain.

Talking about non-surgical neck lifts, there is also a non-surgical face lift available for wrinkle reduction called a Thermage face lift. With a Thermage face lift, you get tighter looking and younger facial skin without undergoing any surgery.

In a Thermage face lift, radio waves and not a scalpel is used to rejuvenate your facial skin, and also the skin on your arms, legs, abdomen, rear and even knees. With a Thermage face lift, all this is made possible without any incisions or long recovery times.

A Thermage face lift not only tightens your skin and smoothens wrinkles; it also helps in lifting your eyebrows and in making your cheek bone look more prominent. It is also effective in firming your jawline and makes your double chin look better and less noticeable.

Immediate improvements in your skin

A Thermage face lift can be performed in your doctor’s office within an hour’s time. With the help of a radio frequency device, your doctor heats your face collagen to make it contract. This results in skin tightening and also promotes the production of additional collagen, to give younger looking skin.

Most people find considerable improvements and wrinkle reduction after a single Thermage face lift while others may need to undergo additional procedures.

Usually, after a Thermage face lift, you not only experience skin tightening during the process, but also progressive skin tightening that lasts six months after the procedure. This is because the heating of deep skin layers tend to activate the healing process of the skin, which in turn promotes the creation of additional collagen.

I was surprised to learn that besides the cosmetic surgery neck lift I had mentioned earlier, it is possible to get a neck lift without surgery. This is possible through a non-surgical neck lift where the skin around your jaw line is tightened and wrinkles and scars reduced with the help of radio frequency energy.

Preparation

Before the non-surgical neck lift, the doctor will first give you an oral pain killer and then apply some topical pain medication to the areas he works on. It is only when the area gets numb that he starts the neck lift.

The radio frequency waves used for the non-surgical neck lift come from a radio frequency device having a small tip that heats collagen in your face. This leads to contraction of collagen and in turn, skin tightening. It also encourages the production of collagen, which helps give younger looking skin. A pulse of this machine is treated over each area to be treated, and lasts two to seven seconds.

Most people don’t experience any pain during the neck lift; however depending on the pain endurance levels of some people and the amount of pain medication given, there may be a mild stinging sensation or even pain.

A non-surgical neck lift usually spans about two hours from its preparation phase to completion phase. Depending on the amount of pain medication you receive, you may need to have someone drive you home after the neck lift.

Side effects

There may be some redness on your neck that fades by the end of the day. Swelling however may last for a week. There are fewer risks associated with a non-surgical neck lift. Though burns are possible, it can be avoided if you have an experienced practitioner do your neck lift for you.

A mini neck lift is also called a submentoplasty, and is an invasive form of cosmetic surgery that targets sagging skin, wrinkles and fat deposits found around the neckline. With a mini neck lift, your neck line contours are greatly improved to make you look much younger than you actually are.

The best candidates for mini neck lifts are slightly obese, middle aged people whose necklines moderately sags or droops. Many a time, a neck lift is combined with brow lift, nose reshaping and other procedures to create a more dramatic result.

Mini neck lifts are usually done on an outpatient basis. The surgeon decides whether to use local or general anesthesia during the procedure. With local anesthesia, you remain awake but don’t feel any pain during the procedure.

The procedure

In case of general anesthesia, you generally sleep through the procedure, and it is usually performed in a hospital setting. This option is usually used for those having existing medical and blood clotting problems.

Once anesthesia is administered, the surgeon starts by making a small incision below the chin.

All the fat tissue found here is trimmed off or removed using liposuction, muscles are tightened for added muscle laxity and excess skin is removed to improve the neck profile.

Sutures are then used to close the wound which on healing give a barely visible scar that fits in the neck creases. The surgeon requires about two hours to complete the procedure however the after care of a neck lift is rather laborious.

Home after care
You have to keep your head elevated for several days after the neck lift. You will be advised to wear compression garments for a week to control swelling and to speedup the healing process.

I was really excited when I came across this mode of wrinkle reduction. The reason for this excitement is that with the help of a microcurrent face lift, you can remove your wrinkles and improve your facial appearance without any pain or risks.

This is a non-invasive procedure where a mild current is applied to the face to remove wrinkles and improve its overall appearance to make you look younger. On application of the electrical current, underlying muscles are strengthened and get toned.

Once the skin tones and firms up, flaws and blemishes like age spots, sun damage and scars start disappearing. Even any puffiness and sagging under the eyes get greatly reduced for a healthier and firmer look.

Improves the health of facial tissues

Another reason for my excitement at reading about microcurrent face lifts is that it helps improve the overall health of facial tissues by increasing blood flow to the area. It also stimulates lymph drainage to help clear toxins from tissues and the production of collagen and elastin to give healthier skin.

Usually two prongs are used to apply the mild current to your face and neck during a microcurrent face lift. There is no need of any anesthesia here as the process is practically painless. The most you may experience is some mild tingling.

The recovery time of a microcurrent face lift lasts only an hour or so and does not require any recovery time. Compared to other face lifts, this face lift is rather safe where you experience no side effects or irritation.

Now that we have covered surgical face lifts, I would like to share this information I found out about laser face lifts. As the name implies, laser face lifts is a face lift which uses laser technology to improve your skin condition and remove wrinkles.

Laser is used to destroy the top skin layers that have been damaged in some way or the other, and thus encourages new skin cell growth. Laser also helps in tightening a person’s sagging skin to make you look younger. The benefit of laser face lifts over a traditional face lift is that there is no need of the doctor cutting into the skin and repositioning it.

The process

The doctor uses a laser that emits a powerful beam of light to heat and cause a burn to the person’s skin surface. The top skin layer is thus removed and the skin protein collagen tightened to give youthful looking skin. On completion of treatment, the skin that grows back in the treated region is smoother, tighter, less blemished and rid of wrinkles.

Basically, with a laser face lift, the patient’s skin is resurfaced and not lifted. People with shallow scars and fine wrinkles will see a marked improvement on the completion of one treatment. However those with deep wrinkles and scars will need additional treatments to remove blemishes.

This is why most people prefer getting a laser face lift on areas that are prone to developing fine lines, like on the forehead and skin of eyelids. It is also more often used to remove wrinkles around the mouth and blemishes on the cheeks. This laser treatment can be used not only on the face, but also on hands and even neck.

Yes, you read it right. There is such a cosmetic procedure called thread face lift where thread is used to help get rid of wrinkles and give younger looking skin! Just reading the heading got me curious to find out what they actually do in a thread face lift.

A thread face lift is a non-invasive surgical procedure used to get rid of wrinkles. Instead of using large incisions to give younger looking skin, the thread face lift surgeon makes tiny incisions and repositions a person’s face using thread. The benefit of a thread face lift is that it requires only local anesthesia, and a short recovery time.

It is those who have minimal facial aging signs who benefit most from a thread face lift. It helps in fixing sagging facial skin of cheeks, jaw and neck region. It also helps remove fine lines and wrinkles.

The actual process

There is no need of making any long incisions in a thread face lift. All the surgeon makes are small cuts in the patient’s face and then threads a special surgical thread through the cuts.

The thread used here has barbs on them that attach to the skin from inside so that the surgeon just has to pull on the thread to lift skin. You experience a slightly raised and smoother face practically right away.

The thread face lift is called a lunchtime lift by many people as it can be completed in the same amount of time as an extended lunchtime meal. The patient receives only local anesthesia and the procedure lasts only an hour or two. Some patients may require some anti-anxiety medication to help them relax before the procedure.

During my search for the best wrinkle treatment option I have, I found out that though microdermabrasion, chemical peels and anti-wrinkle creams are effective in treating wrinkles, and its effects are all temporary.

If you don't have the patience to use anti-wrinkle creams on a regular basis, or to have chemical peel or microdermabrasion every few months, then you'd better consider a more permanent form of wrinkle treatment, which is available in plastic surgery.

Today, the facelift the most common form of plastic surgery used to reduce wrinkles. Face lifts are also called rhytidectomies, and is done to make you look younger and more attractive. It helps eliminate wrinkles, sagging skin, jowls, double chins and age related skin creases.

The procedure

The surgery is done by first making incisions at strategic points, and then stretching skin taut. The doctor than clips off the excess skin, and uses sutures or metal clips to secure the stretched skin in place.

Facelifts that are done properly show no complications and will make you look as many as ten years younger. The results of this youth last for several years, wherein you may have to undergo an additional round of surgery.

Face lifts or a rhytidectomy is usually carried out for cosmetic reasons to improve their self confidence, and not necessarily for medical reasons. This is why most medical insurance plans don't cover a face lift's expenses. You will have to pay for the face lift out of your own pocket.

Okay, now we all know that microdermabrasion is a very popular skin resurfacing procedure. However, I (and I am sure you too) don’t know that it has its share of risks and contraindications. So I have here compiled a list of all the side effects associated with microdermabrasion, furnished by people who have actually undergone microdermabrasion.

1. Microdermabrasion tends to tamper the skin’s color balance. This means you will get darker or lighter patches of skin after microdermabrasion. This risk is comparatively larger in people with darker skin than those with light skin as microdermabrasion only removes the top layer of dead skin cells.

2. If the doctor performing microdermabrasion does not handle the microdermabrasion machine properly, or if it hasn’t been sterilized, you may suffer from hyper pigmentation, infections or skin injuries. This is a rarity, but is possible.

3. There is the risk of your inhaling the micro crystals used during the microderm procedure. However the aluminum oxide crystals used in microdermabrasion does not cause any adverse reactions, are not toxic or carcinogenic. It is only if you ingest these micro crystals in large quantities, which is highly unlikely, that it can lead to respiratory problems.

4. At the start of microdermabrasion, there were people who suffered from eye problems because of stray crystals entering their eyes during their treatment. However today, to prevent this, plastic surgeries, beauty salons and spas offer plastic or rubber goggles to be worn during microdermabrasion.

5. Though it is normal to experience some sensitivity, flaking and redness of the skin after microdermabrasion, too much has to be reported to the doctor.

While in the midst of my never ending research for help with wrinkle removal, I was really intrigued to learn that there is a third form of microdermabrasion which I never knew existed; diamond peel abrasion.

This form of microderm abrasion is done using a diamond machine, is a relatively new form of abrasion that is today used extensively in spas and medical clinics. In fact, there are some people who prefer using diamond machines instead of crystal machines for their abrasion.

Difference between crystal and diamond microdermabrasionFeatures of crystal microdermabrasion

1. Special, handheld devices are used in crystal microdermabrasion to propel aluminum oxide crystals on the skin with a high speed flow. This in turn leads to the emission of dirt, dead cells and used crystals which is sucked away by the machine’s vacuum system.

2. Moreover, its irregular crystal shape facilitates a more effective abrader. Aluminum oxide is also does not cause any allergic or adverse reactions, is safe if ingested and is non-carcinogenic.

3. Sometimes sodium bicarbonate crystals are used instead of aluminum oxide crystals in crystal microdermabrasion. They are softer and less effective in microdermabrasion, and are used only on patients with hyperpigmentation and can be easily washed off after a treatment.
Features of diamond microdermabrasion
1. On the other hand, in a diamond peel, the crystals are replaced with microbrasion wands that have either natural or synthetic diamond tips.

2. It is safer and better to use diamond abrasion to abrade regions close to the eyes and mouth as there is no fear of any stray crystals getting damaged or ingested in the process.

The Differences
Okay. Now that you know quite a bit about chemical peels and microdermabrasion, it is quite normal for you to wonder which the better wrinkle removal option is. (In fact, I too was in the same dilemma once I read all about these two wrinkle removal options).

Basically, both of these options are similar to each other. This is why sometimes a microdermabrasion is also referred to as a microdermabrasion peel. However it should be noted that they both don’t mix and match.
While both of them are great resurfacing procedures used for exfoliating the skin, if used together, they can cause serious damage to the skin because of this double peeling effect. They have various other differences, mentioned below:

1. While microdermabrasion is better for treating superficial skin imperfections like fine lines and wrinkles, chemical peels are better for treating deeper scars and wrinkles.

2. Chemical peels come in various strengths (as I’d mentioned before), viz mild, medium and deep. This is unlike microdermabrasion, which is one and the same for all.

3. While you may need some anesthetic during a cheap chemical peel to overcome its discomfort, there is no need of any anesthetic during a microdermabrasion. At the most, you may experience some tingling sensation during a microdermabrasion session.

4. The recovery time for a microdermabrasion is a few hours, or a few days at the most. However in case of a chemical peel, the recovery time depends on what type of chemical peel you have. While glycolic peels are the mildest, phenol treatment requires a few weeks of recovery time, along with face bandages, painkillers and antibiotics.